My first list was created as I marked my Bible by each instance I felt was someone or some group that met my criteria, starting with Matthew. When I went through Mark, I made sure to put parallel passages with the proper instance in Matthew, repeating this for Luke and John. Some people are mentioned in all 4 Gospels, while some are mentioned in only one. It seems that every time I review my list, I end up making some corrections based on new things that I have learned since starting this project. I also found that at times it was difficult to associate people between Gospels since different names were used for certain people.
Most encounters are just one person, some are 2, with the largest being the sending out of the 72. Even though Zacharias and Elizabeth were introduced together, I count them separate since Elizabeth’s filling of the Holy Spirit was told as a separate event, as well as the fact that she is not really shown as receiving a special blessing beyond becoming pregnant until she is filled with the Holy Spirit.
Without really trying, I first came up with 66 encounters of blessings of the 153 people. That was significant to me as that is the number of books we have in our Bible. But when I got to the encounter about Simon the Leper/Pharisee, I had to change that. The logic I used to prove that this wasn’t two different Simons also proved that Mary Magdalene was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. That got me down to 64 encounters and 152 fish. I reanalyzed some of the people that I didn’t count and decided that Barabbas actually deserved a place on this list. So now I have 65 encounters with 153 fish.
I also realized that there really is no consensus on the number of books in the Bible. Some Christians include the Apocrypha, some the book of Enoch (Ethiopian for one that I can think of), and yet others think some books don’t belong.
But what about the verse in Revelation that states we are not to add nor take away from the Bible?
- I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and from the holy city that are written in this book. (Rev 22:18-19)
The word translated as book in this verse is βιβλίον (biblion) which at the time was a scroll. Books as we know them didn’t exist. Each book of the Bible was most likely on a scroll and there was no canon of the New Testament yet. So why do people today use this verse to say that what books we have in our Bible can’t be added to or subtracted from? Now within the scroll/book of revelation, we are not to add or subtract words. We also have to be very careful about other books, to ensure that they line up with the rest of scripture.
We have the same warning in Deuteronomy:
- Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am delivering to you. (Deut 2:4)
This is specifically talking about the commands that God gave them in this book, not the entire Bible.
How many books are in the Bible? Protestants will say 66, Catholics have either 72 or 73, Orthodox adds 3 to the Catholic canon, and the Ethiopian has 81. And some of these numbers may change. All are considered Christian, and I’m sure some in the leadership in each are not true Christians. That does not mean that all believers in each branch aren’t Christian.
The Church is like a mustard tree – The mustard seed parable, found in Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19, illustrates how the Kingdom of God, starting small, can grow to become a great and influential force, like a small mustard seed blossoming into a large tree where birds can nest. This tree needs pruning at times so the fruitful branches can grow – The “parable of pruning,” found in John 15:1-8, uses the analogy of a vine and its branches to illustrate God’s role as a “vinedresser” who prunes his followers to help them bear more fruit
153 Fish 